IN A NATION OF ISLAM (Pakistan, 1998-2003)

In Pakistan Christians suffer under Islamic terror. Among his subjects, Piers Benatar photographed a village in Punjab that was destroyed by Muslims. Here religion was an instrument in the struggle for land. For Benatar, the oppression of Christians in Pakistan can stand for religious intolerance anywhere in the world. Iran, Afghanistan, the United States or the Arab world: nowhere do religious dogmas leave space for other views or interpretations. Benatar photographed Christians in Pakistan precisely in order to have his message come across more sharply in the overwhelmingly Christian West. – Shanti Nagar, Punjab. The stone cross that was broken off the church by the Muslims who attacked it is dragged inside by the pastor and a pair of boys, in preparation for the evening Mass.